Street-railway switch



(-No Model.) 2 Sheets Sheet 1.. P. B. DOWNING.

STREET RAILWAY SWITCH. No. 430,118. Patented June 17, 1890.

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STREET RAILWAY SWITCH.

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Patented June 17, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PHILIP B. DOVNING, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

STREET- RAI LWAY SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 430,118, dated June 17,1890.

Application filed February 17, 1890. Serial No. 340,804. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, PHILIP B. DO'WNING, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk and State oi' Massachusetts, a citizen of the United States,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street-RailwaySwitches, of which the following is a specification.

`My invention relates to that class of streetrailway switches in whichthe switch-tongue is operated by mechanism worked'from the vehicletraveling upon t-he railway or by the vehicle itself and its obj ect isto improve the construction of these devices in certain respects, aswill be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings I have represented an embodiment of myinvention in the form now best known to me. In the drawings, Figure 1 isa plan View of a portion of a track and switch in connection with whichthe device is to be used. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same withthe addition of a portion of the car in place and about to operate theswitch to shunt the car onto a siding. Figs. 3 and 4 are enlarged viewsin cross-section upon the section-lines :r a: and y y of Fig. 1. Fig. 5is aview in section of the switch-operating mechanism hereinafterdescribed; and Fig. 6 is a plan view of the under side of a car andplatform, showing this mechanism and its connections as arrangedthereon.

In the drawings, A represents the tilting switch-lever, which is pivotedat B to the side of a vertical case or excavation adapted to be sunkbetween the rails below the level of the street, the forward end of thisexcavation terminating substantially at the point of the switch-rail C.The vertical tilting of the lever A around its center B regulates theposition of this switch-rail and opens and closes the switch. At therear end of the lever A is an upward extension D, (see Fig. 1,) whichworks upwardly through or past the rail and within the normal line oftread of the wheels Vof the car or other vehicle running thereon.

tical section looking rearwardly on the line Y of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 being asimilar section looking forward on the line oc x of Fig. 1. Thisvertical projection E preferably consists of a block adapted to slidevertically, as shown, and connected at its lower end by means of a linkF, (see Figs. 3 and 4,) with a lever G, adapted to oscillate at rightangles to the main line of track around its pivot g. The upper end ofthis lever is loosely connected, as by a pin and slot, as shown, withthe free end of the switch-rail C. As will be perceived by the drawings,depressing the block E will move the switch-rail inward,

thereby opening the switch, and elevating the block E would move theswitch-rail outward, thereby closing the switch and leaving the trackopen. To depress this projection E and open the switch, any suitabledevice may be employed. I prefer, however, to4 use for this purpose anarm I-I, depending from the under side of the car-body and preferablyprovided at its lower end with an anti-friction roller h. This arm isarranged to move up and down in a suitable guide I, and is normally heldin its upward position by a spring J. The construction of the arm iswell shown in Fig. 8, where it is represented as depressed and in theact of striking and forcing down the block E, and also in Fig. 5, whereit is shown in its normal upward position, in which it will pass clearof the block E.

Any suitable mechanism may be employed whereby the driver may press downthe arm I'I when he wishes it to strike the block E to open the switch.I have represented for this purpose a yoke-bar K. (Shown at Fig. 6 inits position upon the bottom or under side of the car-platform.) Thisbar is connected by means of a suitable flexible connection L, passingover guide-pulleys Z Z, with the arm H, and the yoke-bar K is adapted,by means IOO ofa vertical rod terminating in a handle, to be swung bythe driver to press down the arm H to open the switch.

The operation of the device is as follows: The parts being in theirnormal position and the switch being closed, the main line will be open,and the cars or other vehicles will ordinarily pass along by that line.If, now, the driver of the car desire to enter upon the side track, heforces down the arm H shortly before it arrives at the projection E,this arm so forced down striking the projection, forc- Y ing the block Edown, working the lever G,

and throwing the switch-rail C, thereby opening the switch. The vehiclethen passes onto the side track. The switch is now left open with theforward end of the lever A depressed and its rearward end consequentlyelevated, thus bringing the projection D above the surface of the trackand within the path of the tread of the wheel of the next car that maycome. This next car, striking the projection D, will again tilt thelever A, thereby raising the block E and closing the switch. If the carin question is bound for the main track, the switch being thus closed,it will go through without effort on the part of the driver. If,

however, it is to be switched off to the side track, this will be doneby the driver forcing down the arm II in the manner before described.

It is obvious from the foregoing description that the distance along therail from the projection D to opposite the projection E should beslightly greater than the length of the wheel-base of the cars runningupon the rail, as otherwise the hind wheel of every car would close theswitch before it came to it, thereby defeating the obj ect of thedevice.

I claiml. In a switch of the character described, a tiltingswitch-operating lever having vertical extensions at its front and rearends, the distance between its extensions being greater than thewheel-base of the vehicles run upon the road, the rearward extensionbeing lo-YV cated in the line of the path of travel of the wheels ofsaid vehicle, the forward extension being located to one side thereof,and a switch-rail in operative connection with the said forwardextension and adapted to be opened or closed as the former is raised orlowered, all substantially as set forth.

2. In a switch of the character described, the combination, with theswitch-rail C, of the mechanism for operating the same, consisting ofthe vertically-movable block or projection E, link F, and lever G,loosely connected to the point of the said switch-rail.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 12th day ofFebruary, A. D. 1890.

PHILIP B. DOWNING.

Witnesses:

ALEX. P. BROWNE, JOHN H. TAYLOR.

